Playing as a team or solo? Determinants for innovativeness of incubated sport business startups

Purpose The purpose of this article is to investigate two alternative theories to explain a firm’s innovativeness. The resource-based view is compared with network theory to study the innovativeness of sport business startups. From a practical perspective, this research sheds light on the under-researched phenomenon of entrepreneurial support organisations (ESOs) (e.g. business incubators) for sport businesses. Design/methodology/approach We employ a survey method with three cohorts of 16–18 startup firms, amounting to a total sample of 50. We surveyed each cohort consecutively one year after entering the incubator. We used descriptive analysis, regression analysis, and social network analysis. Findings Our findings demonstrate that the role and influence of networking within incubators for startups’ innovativeness is not prominent. However, the firm characteristics of size and cohesiveness of strategy positively influence the innovativeness of startups. Originality/value We consolidate research on networking and innovation in finding that network activity within an ESO has no specific impact on the innovativeness of startups, that mature firms are more innovative than new firms, and that firms with a comprehensive strategy score in process innovation. This research is a unique contribution to sport entrepreneurship research in sport management literature, exploring a sport business incubator as an ESO.